EastEnders Patrick actor’s wild love life including divorce that left him ‘penniless’

Rudolph Walker’s love life away from EastEnders is just as dramatic as Patrick Trueman’s

Rudolph Walker is an EastEnders legend – but what do we know about his off-screen love life?

The actor joined the BBC soap way back in 2001 as Patrick Trueman – and it didn’t take him long to become a firm favourite with fans. The character has also played a part in several big storylines

From his many romances, marrying Yolande (Angela Wynter) and the recent murder of son Anthony (Nicholas Bailey), Patrick’s time in Walford has not been short of drama.

Away from the TV sets, though, Rudolph’s love life has been just as dramatic as his Walford alter ego. From being married three times to ending up homeless after a divorce, here’s a look inside the talented actor’s romances.

Rudolph was first married to Lorna Ross in 1968. The pair welcomed two children together, daughter Sheona and son Darren.

However, in the early 90s, Rudolph and Lorna went their separate ways. The pair remained on good terms, though, as years later, when Rudolph’s second divorce left him penniless and homeless, she helped him out through the tough times.

“Bless her. We are still extremely good friends. It didn’t take me out of what I was experiencing, but it cushioned a lot,” he told the Mirror.

Rudolph went on to find love again with Dounne Alexander, whom he married in August 1998. Dounne is the founder of Gramma’s, a collection of herbal pepper sauces that have been sold in shops such as Harrods and Fortnum and Mason over the years.

She was also awarded an MBE due to her work with the Joining Hands In Health campaign. In the mid-2010s, though, Rudolph and Dounne called it quits. However, the legal costs of his second divorce took their toll on Rudolph, and he spent two years broke and homeless.

“It was painful. It was extremely difficult. I just didn’t have any financial means. I was literally starting from scratch again in my 70s, with nowhere to live. It was a time of great pain and loneliness,” he shared.

The TV star went on: “Some days on my way to the studio, I would pull up at the side of the road, have a cry. I suppose it was a sort of double life.

“Questions of: ‘Who am I? Why am I in this position?’ There was no way the public watching me as Patrick every other night were aware that was what was happening.”

After Dounne, Rudolph began a romance with Evangeline Vincent, and the pair married in 2016. The couple is still together to this day.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One.